Silly amounts of RAM are amounts of RAM in excess of what you could realistically use, even taken into account those programs who eats more when there's more availible, that number should land at >6-8 GiB for most people.
I could probably make do with ~ half what I have.

Major facepalm moment when an american is whining about having to pay for the healthcare when european healthcare is in most cases clearly superior. Or was it sarcasm?

i would put it this way, the actual quality of the healthcare is better in the US, however, the availability of said healthcare is not, if you don't have heath insurance, a 24 hour ICU stay can cost you well over 100k, so many people without health insurance (myself included) either don't go to the doctor unless they have to, (and then face huge costs afterwards), or simply don't go at all

a few years ago i was working on my friend's car, i was compressing a small spring when it came loose and hit me in the face chipping a tooth, getting that repaired cost $1100 because i also dont have dental coverage (they are separate in the US)

and health insurance is not cheap, and is generally not affordable to most people, the majority of people with health insurance get it through work, this often means that people get stuck at a job they absolutely hate and are underpaid for because of health coverage, those who dont get it through work have to face a monthly cost of anywhere from $600-$1500 a month

it really needs to be overhauled and socialized in the US, the problem is that it's a huge money source for many companies, and they spend the money on lobbyists to make sure that any bill doing so never gets passed, as well as plenty of propaganda to keep "socialism" a dirty word

i would put it this way, the actual quality of the healthcare is better in the US,

How so exactly? And even if this applies to men, it certainly doesn't seem to apply to women nearly as much.

In Norway you go to one doctor for most of your life if you don't move long distances often. This doctor then examine and, if necessary, will sign you up for more accurate examination with specials. Not sure whether this is common practice, nor do I know the right word for it if it is.

Anyway, a mandate specifically made a point that these doctors will have to sign requests that're within professional and legal boundaries. Ie abortions.* Previously it would seem that some doctors would reject them because, well, they don't like abortions. Now they've got to sign the slip, or face a variety of possible punishments.

* Not to say they can't have an abortion if they don't, but then it's gonna cost 'em money out of their own wallet with no chance of refunding.

Personally I would value having drastically cheaper stuff higher than having to pay out of my own pocket for accidental injuries. But obviously you would get a different opinion out of someone who's broken some part of their body :P

Eeeeh, you'd have a hard time convincing me that healthcare should even slightly come out of one's own pocket. I've got one friend who has a back injury that disables him from 'active work' positions, and his brother too was disabled by a work accident, and a friend back home has Crohn's disease. My brother's epileptic to add to that.

None of them have worked enough to get the sort of backup from their company that my dad did when he was severely disabled by a brain hemorrhage. And who wouldn't be in deep shit with their workplace if they had severe migraines like my mum.

Anyway, a mandate specifically made a point that these doctors will have to sign requests that're within professional and legal boundaries. Ie abortions.* Previously it would seem that some doctors would reject them because, well, they don't like abortions. Now they've got to sign the slip, or face a variety of possible punishments.

* Not to say they can't have an abortion if they don't, but then it's gonna cost 'em money out of their own wallet with no chance of refunding.

that is part of a political view point shift going on within the US, its a contrast between the older more conservative religious generations and the younger more liberal generations, but in general, the best healthcare in the world is available in the US, (provided you have the money)

but essentially, a society with many things socialized, requires higher and more taxes, we have very few social programs in the US, and so we don't have as many taxes, and we don't have VAT or tariffs (import taxes)

as many differences there are within the US between the smaller cultures, there are a few things that everyone here has in common, Americans in general hate paying taxes, that's why everyone is freaking out about this "fiscal cliff"

personally i wouldn't mind paying more taxes on computer parts if i got something else in return

that is part of a political view point shift going on within the US, its a contrast between the older more conservative religious generations and the younger more liberal generations, but in general, the best healthcare in the world is available in the US, (provided you have the money)

By that do you imply that you have the best doctors or what? And even then I don't think that's true. I'm not sure if there's any statistics but for example a lot of athletes fly over to european countries like Switzerland or Finland to get operated due to the quality doctors.

If you compare to the whole europe then maybe. That's not fair though because of all the third world countries like Spain and such..

What I think america is against is, like all the other people, change. You've been spoiled with low taxes for so long that anyone trying to change that is deemed evil. It's totally the same in europe. Anyone trying to take away public- healthcare, schools, day-care centers or the countless other socialized systems against tax reductions doesn't get any serious foothold.

Personally I wouldn't mind way more liberal/ right-wing approach in our politics but that's just not gonna happen.

By that do you imply that you have the best doctors or what? And even then I don't think that's true. I'm not sure if there's any statistics but for example a lot of athletes fly over to european countries like Switzerland or Finland to get operated due to the quality doctors.

If you compare to the whole europe then maybe. That's not fair though because of all the third world countries like Spain and such..

What I think america is against is, like all the other people, change. You've been spoiled with low taxes for so long that anyone trying to change that is deemed evil. It's totally the same in europe. Anyone trying to take away public- healthcare, schools, day-care centers or the countless other socialized systems against tax reductions doesn't get any serious foothold.

Personally I wouldn't mind way more liberal/ right-wing approach in our politics but that's just not gonna happen.

well, essentially, yes, it's a byproduct of unregulated free market capitalism, a hospital in the US can afford to pay the most for the best doctors, look at the Mayo Clinic for example, as well as many life saving procedures are pioneered in the US

however, "the best care money can provide" is not available to 90% of our population, so when you compare average healthcare to Europe, they are about the same ,except Europe is cheaper

i read a study once that looked at the cost of different surgeries, on average, everything costs twice as much in the US except for lasic eye surgury

also, in the US: Conservative = right wing/red/religious(Republicans), and Liberal = left wing/blue/secular(Democrats), (i thought i'd post that since i dont understand other countries political parties)

Overhauled, sure. If by overhauled you mean completely scrapped and replaced with true free market (not this crony capitalist bullshit you see with myriads of regulations and rules keeping insurance costs up near $1000 a month).

Socialized? Ha. Good luck with that. Canada has socialized health care, I still have to pay for 3rd party health and dental insurance, and the service at hospitals (especially in Nova Scotia) is absolutely atrocious.

Everyone complains about all these problems with the system, and figure the solution to the system is making it bigger. It's the stupidest thing I've ever heard.

i read a study once that looked at the cost of different surgeries, on average, everything costs twice as much in the US except for lasic eye surgury

Yeah, but what are the wait times for these surgeries? Up here you have to wait months for some surgeries you can get same day in the US.

as many differences there are within the US between the smaller cultures, there are a few things that everyone here has in common, Americans in general hate paying taxes, that's why everyone is freaking out about this "fiscal cliff"

Personally I think anyone who doesn't hate paying taxes needs to get their head checked. Taxation is, essentially an entity forcibly taking money you earned without your consent, and punishing you if you refuse to be, essentially, robbed in this manner. Every service that's provided through taxation and government spending can easily be provided by a TRUE free market.

But to be frank, taxation amounts are far from being the actual problem you guys are having down there.

also, in the US: Conservative = right wing/red/religious(Republicans), and Liberal = left wing/blue/secular(Democrats), (i thought i'd post that since i dont understand other countries political parties)

Yeh you sissy liberals (social liberalism).

Originally Posted by Asera

Personally I think anyone who doesn't hate paying taxes needs to get their head checked. Taxation is, essentially an entity forcibly taking money you earned without your consent, and punishing you if you refuse to be, essentially, robbed in this manner. Every service that's provided through taxation and government spending can easily be provided by a TRUE free market.

If we had true free market a big partition of world population would just die. I'm not saying that's the worse thing to happen per se but are you willing to give a death sentence to millions of people who can't / aren't capable of caring for themselves?

however, the mindset in the US is less more like "i dont want to pay any taxes, but i want social services too!!" rather than "i dont want to pay any more taxes than i have too for certain social services"

and actually, if you remove all insurance companies, and regulate healthcare cost, there is enough money in the US budget (by eliminating medicare and medicaid) to fully socialize healthcare with out raising taxes specifically for it and without changing much in terms of medical service

basically, you would go to work, and pay your normal taxes, and if you get sick, you just go to the doctor, you wouldn't have to worry about bills or who's policy covers what at whichever hospital

Originally Posted by Asera

But to be frank, taxation amounts are far from being the actual problem you guys are having down there.

yeah, i have my ideas behind that, but i dont want this to get too heated